Hey everyone! I have a gaming PC with an i7-14700K and I've been monitoring my temps after playing some games like CS2. I have a Lian Li 206 case and a Pure Loop 2fx 280mm AIO cooler, with a fan setup that includes 2 front fans, 1 bottom intake for the GPU, and 1 exhaust in the back. The AIO fans are set to exhaust on top. I adjusted the LP1 and LP2 power limits to 190w and 220w, respectively. However, after gaming for an hour or two, I often see my CPU temperatures hitting 88°C and even going over 90°C. I know it can get hot, but should I be worried about the potential for CPU degradation? I've tried undervolting, but it seems that my motherboard doesn't allow that. Any tips or advice?
5 Answers
Did you manage to update your BIOS for the microcode fix? For gaming, a 280mm AIO should keep things cooler, but if you're still seeing those high temps, it might be worth looking into. Also, CS2 isn't exactly a heat monster, so it's curious that your temps are that high.
Are you sure about that? I thought CPUs start to throttle at 100°C? Shouldn't I be more worried about that?
It sounds like your AIO cooler might not be handling the heat as well as it should. Have you noticed if the AIO fans are ramping up when temperatures rise? If they’re running at a constant speed, that could be a problem you want to investigate further.
I've definitely noticed that the AIO fans aren't ramping up, they just stay at one speed. Maybe I should look into that?
Honestly, temperatures around 70-90°C are pretty normal for heavy workloads, and even touching 100°C isn't something to panic over. CPUs do have short power boosts, so those spikes can happen occasionally, especially when launching more demanding games.
So you're saying these temps are okay? I did see 99°C when I started up Minecraft. I get that the CPU isn't at those temps all the time, but it just raises my worry levels.
100°C is within normal operating temps for a lot of CPUs; they do thermal throttle at that point, but brief spikes aren't unusual. Just keep an eye on it and ensure your cooling setup is optimal.
Yeah, I updated to the latest microcode recently. I've been considering reapplying thermal paste too, but I'm not sure how much of a difference that would make.